This month’s catch up from Mel our CEO, who shares our plans for a new Soft Play in Lockleaze following changes to Boing! at the Hub…
If you want to stay up to date with the opening of the soft play, you can join the soft play mailing list here.
Save the Lockleaze Soft Play! – DONATE HERE
By now, you will all have heard the sad news that Boing! Lockleaze Soft Play will be closing on Sunday 29th March 2026 after 15 years of serving the Lockleaze community with their heart and soul. First opening in 2011, since 2014 Boing has been located in our Hub on Gainsborough Square – in a room that always feels safe, cosy and welcoming thanks to the amazing Boing! team so many of us have grown to love and cherish.
You will also have seen the hundreds of lovely comments left on Facebook:
‘In the middle of a difficult transition to parenthood Boing! Soft Play was always a safe place. Richard Reddrop, you and the team have served the community well and will leave a huge legacy.’
“Boing and wonderful Maria Perrett’s Covid parent support group at the Hub were a lifeline for us. I really struggled in the early days of parenthood and owe so much to the community and safe space the team provided for us.’
Well, here at LNT we were gutted to see Boing! go too. The Soft Play team are part of our LNT family and whilst we know that these are tough times, we found it really hard to imagine our building without the daily patter of small feet and pushchair wheels, and not hearing that end of session music that really gets into your head…
So – Good News! – we’ve decided to take the plunge and save the Soft Play in Lockleaze.
It’ll be the same space, same fantastic team, and the same warm and welcoming atmosphere we all know and love – and open to ALL.
We’ll also open in the school holidays – something you’ve been asking for for a while – and try some more affordable and community-led sessions for residents of Lockleaze.
But we need your help.
LNT has been serving our community for nearly 30 years. We’re a small charity and it’s going to cost us money to set up a new Soft Play, even though we’ll still have the old kit (and yes, the volcano).
We need start up costs to cover insurance, kitchen equipment, a new booking system and initial staff costs. SO if you’re sad that Boing is closing, and you’d like to use the new Soft Play, please donate what you can to our Lockleaze Soft Play Crowdfunder here. Every penny will go to ensuring that we don’t lose this vital Lockleaze resource that is so close to our hearts.
Please bear with us while the old Boing winds down, and a new Soft Play restarts:
- Until March 28th 2026, you can still book your sessions at www.boingsoftplay.com
- After Easter, you’ll be able to book very similar Soft Play sessions on www.lockleazent.co.uk – same place, same fantastic team.
- We’ll be running a poll to decide what you want to call the new Soft Play as we have to rename it – send us your suggestions on Facebook!
- AND you can also book (or re-book) weekend parties with us for May 2026 onwards – get in touch with us on info@lockleazent.co.uk and we’ll book you in, and eventually you’ll be able to do this through the LNT website.
Finally, we know that there are loads of you who have ideas about things you’d like to see us do with the Soft Play – so send us your ideas on softplay@lockleazent.co.uk.
Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust exists to support our community in Lockleaze, to create a fairer, healthier, greener Lockleaze. We hope that saving the Soft Play will give us even more opportunities to come together in this fantastic place we call home. We can’t wait to get started…